Signed by Governor Dave Heineman

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from accepting an application for or issuing a license for a new hospital beginning on the effective date of this Act through September 15, 2011, unless it is a license application for a critical access hospital or construction began prior to May 1, 2010.

Highlights:

-Requires the Health and Human Services Committee to conduct a study of the following and report its findings to the Legislature by December 31, 2010 (Sec. 2):

-Referral practices; -Ownership disclosure; -Uncompensated and under-compensated patient care; -Joint ventures among or between hospitals, physicians, and investors; -Reinvestment in facilities; -Community benefits; -Comparison of the roles of general acute hospitals, critical access hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and other limited service facilities; -Clarification and definition of limited service facilities, such as physician-owned hospitals and investor- owned hospitals; -Compliance with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (42 USA 1395dd); and -The impact of federal health care legislation on all the items listed above.

Full Bill Text